After watching Heidi Montag totally embarrass herself in front of billions of people at the Miss Universe pageant, I was overwhelmed by my feelings of anger. Hatred? Obvi. Annoyance? Check. Fits of giggles? You know it. But my anger surprised me. Why was I so damn mad?

And then I realized: here was a girl that has zero (zilch, nada, NOTHING) talent getting the opportunity of a lifetime while there are so many real singers out there that the world is truly missing out on.

Singers like Jesse Palter, one of the best new artists I’ve heard in a long-ass time. Jesse, who is well known and celebrated for her abilities as a Jazz singer, has a rare voice and a distinct sound that you can’t help but fall in love with. Her latest music (which I just downloaded from iTunes and is already on my most played list….) makes you feel good. Feel happy. Feel like dancing around in your undies (even with the drapes open!). And on top of all that, this girl is a major sweetheart. I’m not sure what I love more – the girl or the music – but either way you should get to know Ms. Jesse Palter:

The 5 Questions We Ask Everyone:

1. What is the most trouble you’ve ever gotten into?
Trouble? Who, me? I’ve never gotten into any trouble! Except for the time I dyed my hair blonde and left my eyebrows dark brown… Does that count? That was TROUBLING!

2. What are the five things you can’t live without?
1. My ipod/record player!
2. The internet – Hello. My name is Jesse and I’m an addict.
3. My Crackberry…errrr, Blackberry
4. Piano. I’d go crazy if I had all these compositional ideas in my head and no tool to help get them out.
5. Chocolate. I’ve tried. And failed. Miserably. Read More »

Happy Hanukkah, people!

In honor of the eight days of Hanukkah, we decided to do a tribute to our 8 favorite Hanukkah celebrators (also known as Jews). But then we decided that 8 just wasn’t enough; there are too many good ones! So, we upped it to eight Jews for each of the eight days.

Yes, it’s a lot of Jewish, but let’s be real – Hanukkah gets totally ignored this time of year, so we thought it would be nice to give a little shout-out to the people not dreaming of a white Christmas. You know, the ones dreaming of a little Mu Shu on Christmas eve. Click on any of our favorite Jews to see why we love em so much (and why anyone – Jew or non Jew – will love them too!). Read More »

Welcome back to my weekly rant on all things bothersome. Things that we all experience, that we often think: “Whyyyy?? Is that really necessary?!”

This week: claiming rights to a band.

Example: The Fray, Maroon 5, Corinne Bailey Rae, The Backstreet Boys, Jesse Palter, Madonna, Ok-Go Tally Hall.

Some of these musicians you’ve heard of- some maybe not… some are or were huge stars, some are unsigned. Yet, if you listen to any of these artists’ songs in front of another person a conversation like this will ultimately ensue:

You: “How good is this song?”

ITRNO (Is That Really Necessary Offender): “Oh, this song? Yeah, this song is good, but I’m so sick of it now. I started listening to The Fray loooong before they were signed to a major label and way before their CD was available to the public. In fact, I knew every single word to this song before they even wrote it. So, ha! I am so cool. Way cooler than you because I listened to this band first.” Read More »